How to Make Bitcoin Payments More Efficient in Online Gaming

Cointelegraph looks into why cryptocurrency payment systems for video & online games are still underdeveloped.

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While video & online games are making first small steps towards Bitcoin, gambling is already there. Cointelegraph looks into why cryptocurrency payment systems are still underdeveloped.

Bitcoin as part of online gaming ecosystem

The talks started in 2011. Back then, entrepreneur Calvin Ayre published a list of his own predictions for online gaming industry in 2012. One of them was about Bitcoin.

It said:

“Someone is going to figure out how to make this work and when they do, all the anti-gambling, over-regulating authoritarian governments will be exposed as emperors without clothes.”

Today, cryptocurrency payments make an integral part of gaming ecosystem. According to some estimates, 40% of Bitcoin turnover is related to online gaming. There are more than 150 Bitcoin and altcoin casinos worldwide, not to mention several hundreds of websites accepting cryptocurrencies as an alternative payment method.

The majority of these sites use Bitcoin as a gaming chip or the betting currency. The spectrum of games is extremely wide: from the digital versions of Poker and Blackjack to Bitcoin-based bookmaking.

Another category of platforms allows players to compete against each other for coins. These competitions are usually based on well-known video games or simple PvP skill-based games, developed specifically for this purpose.

Finally, there is also a number of games where player can receive a reward for the gaming process itself.

Bitcoin as ideal casino chip

Several years ago, speaking of Bitcoin advantages, experts called the currency an ideal casino chip - “immediate, private and irreversible” - and claimed it combined the best attributes of an optimal e-Gaming payment method.

However, the time doesn’t stand still; both markets are developing rapidly. Eventually, such dynamics have brought to surface some shortcomings of existing systems, and it became clear that even the so-called “match made in crypto” has its own weak spots.

“The bitcoin blockchain is too slow for instant payments, so players have to deposit funds with the provider, thus they have to trust the provider and the provider is under pressure from the responsibility: even an honest provider can cause their clients to lose funds with malfunctioning, for example. The alternative is loading up using expensive middlemen, such as credit cards, paypal, or bank-type institutions, who may take the responsibility of instant payments on themselves, but for a very high cost.”

Payments in real time without delays

A Toronto-based company BitRush raised this issue again in one of its blog posts earlier this year. At that time, the company also dropped a subtle hint that the solution was already found.

The solution became known as ANOON - a multi-currency payment platform integrated with Bitcoin blockchain. Built on the company’s own cryptographic technology, ANOON can’t be called a blockchain system - and yet, it uses the Distributed Ledger Architecture (DLA) and decentralized consensus algorithm.

The key feature of ANOON lies in ability of conducting payments and transactions in real time without any delays. Through the specific way of the distributed ledger system implementation, all transactions are done without the “blockmining delay”; the currency conversion process is also real-time, enabled by a smart conversion engine.

Fair gaming portal

BitRush has managed to build an entire ecosystem around ANOON. The most significant part of this ecosystem is WaggaWagga, a provably fair gaming portal developed by BitRush subsidiary Start-it Ltd.

Designed to be ANOON’s proof-of-concept in online gaming, WaggaWagga implements one of the innovative features of the payment system: an opportunity to generate wallet-related tokens, which allow to register and play on WaggaWagga portal, as well as all connected gaming websites.

In honor of the portal launch, Start-it announced the WaggaWagga Opening Tournament - a three-day PvP competition starting on September, 1. For 72 hours the participants will be able to win Bitcoin prizes, competing with each other in the game Pots.

In addition to that, every player will get the opportunity to take part in High Roller Games and test their skills with high minimum wagers.

The prize fund of the Tournament amounts 7,5 BTC and will be allocated among top 3 players, a player with the biggest bet and also the secret “surprise prize” winner.

Now, WaggaWagga Opening Tournament is only three days away. To learn more about game rules and become one of the tournament competitors, click here.